March 28, 2020 / By Gabe Gutierrez and Dennis Romero
An infectious disease specialist leading three clinical trials into treatments for coronavirus said he expects the work to go quickly.
“If everything goes according to plan, I am talking months, not years,” for completion of the trials, Dr. Timothy Schacker, vice dean for research at the University of Minnesota’s medical school, told NBC News.
Clinical trials often can take years, Schacker said, but these may take less time in part because the process of finding patients to participate is happening quickly.
A high amount of interest in coronavirus treatment research is helping in recruiting participants, Schacker said. In addition, researchers are using the internet and social media to get the word out.
His teams’ trials are trying to answer three questions, he said: Can you prevent a person from getting infected? Once a person has the coronavirus, can you prevent them from getting more sick? And, lastly, once a person is sick, is there a treatment to fight the infection?
